How would you change Specialization?

[MN_14]

I've never used the Specialist Abilities at all. They're not even on my hotbars. If I am able to craft everything using the abilities that come with levelling crafter up to lvl60 then I don't need to complicate my life further!

Of course, there's some excellent theorycrafters in this game who help everyone with the more complex parts of crafting. I always try to find my own rotations before using, say, Rath's 437CP wonderful creation. That's all part of the fun to me.

Pretty much. I don't normally use specialist abilities either other than when experimenting with a way for single class crafters to HQ the latest items. With cross class skills, you can can craft from 0-100% on all items released so far the majority of the time, with most other results falling to around 90-94%. Getting a mere 80% is a disaster that doesn't happen too often as it normally requires 5-6 misses.

Rotations are useful for beginners who haven't fully mastered the use of all of the crafting abilities. But they'll ultimately hold you back. You should actually be crafting with the mindset of doing whatever it takes to get that 11 stacks of IQ while building up ~7300 quality (or 6100 quality if you're able to add innovation into the mix). If it takes 8 touches, great. If it takes 16, that's fine too.

Ironically, in the absence of level 50 cross class skills, specialist abilities force you to take the harder non-rotation based approach. Free form crafting in the truest sense as even your timing/method for completing progress is unpredictable (for 3* and 4* anyhow).

[Roth_Trailfinder]

Specialist abilities add an extra layer of RNG on top of things. This (as evidenced by a discussion some time back about the moves) makes for higher stat requirements to achieve the same results as an omnicrafter.

[Solarra]

Having read through what you've said, Roth and Minerva, I've changed my views on locking recipes. I'd like to see it go.

So far I've been lucky; I've been able to get friends to make things I can't and I've had something to offer them in return. I guess that rosy situation was part of what the devs had in mind.
However, I've only been able to craft 4* for a couple of weeks. When my friends are busy or there is nothing they want from me in return, I'm going to have use the MB and I've already noticed that the goods from the less popular specialisations are priced considerably higher than the goods that I can produce (since I chose three of the most popular ones).
Clearly, increased competition does drive prices down, so not locking recipes would benefit everyone. Omni-crafters could go back to being self sufficient and prices would be more favourable for buyers, both the single-crafters looking for materials and non-crafters looking for crafted goods.

[dspguy]

Other than scrapping specialization entirely (which they should), I'd be ok with them forbidding the sale or trade of anything made outside of your specialization that required specialization. Huh? What?

Prior to this patch, let's say I'm not a GSM specialist. But I want to make a scintillant ingot. Let me make it. Let it be bound to my character (not sellable). And anything I make with it... bound to my character. So if I want to make a scintillant staff for my BLM but I'm not a GSM specialist, I can make it for myself. I can't trade it.

However, that's just an idea. Honestly, I keep multiple souls of the crafter handy and I just swap whenever I feel like it.

[Fife_Muggins]

Other than scrapping specialization entirely (which they should), I'd be ok with them forbidding the sale or trade of anything made outside of your specialization that required specialization. Huh? What?

Prior to this patch, let's say I'm not a GSM specialist. But I want to make a scintillant ingot. Let me make it. Let it be bound to my character (not sellable). And anything I make with it... bound to my character. So if I want to make a scintillant staff for my BLM but I'm not a GSM specialist, I can make it for myself. I can't trade it.

However, that's just an idea. Honestly, I keep multiple souls of the crafter handy and I just swap whenever I feel like it.

This^

I don't really like the locks at all, but it seemed odd that the ironworks gear was gated for a patch. A crafter not being able to make all their own crafting gear? Really?

They already have the system in place. Just make it collectables so that we can wear our own stuff.

[Millen1]

The specialist system needs to be scraped and the person that thought it was a good idea should be fired. When I craft something which I really use to enjoy doing in the game before this garbage system came out. I liked having my name on the gear. Now, I have the name of my main char, an alt, a main char from a second account and and alt there also leading to 4 different names when I craft any thing from any of the 8 crafts day one of patch to get around the system. It is stupid and with a touch of grind, it is useless at slowing me down. They need to go back to the way crafts were done in 2.0 when getting the crafting book was a challenge and you actually had to think for yourself. The specialist system and the scrips system that go with it are the dumbest thing I have ever seen to make content that is a lot of fun, not fun anymore. Slow clap SE.

[Dzian]

Other than scrapping specialization entirely (which they should), I'd be ok with them forbidding the sale or trade of anything made outside of your specialization that required specialization. Huh? What?

Prior to this patch, let's say I'm not a GSM specialist. But I want to make a scintillant ingot. Let me make it. Let it be bound to my character (not sellable). And anything I make with it... bound to my character. So if I want to make a scintillant staff for my BLM but I'm not a GSM specialist, I can make it for myself. I can't trade it.

However, that's just an idea. Honestly, I keep multiple souls of the crafter handy and I just swap whenever I feel like it.

If they did implement it i'd hope it only applied to items made with specialist recipes that you weren't specialised in.

Using your example If i was a weaver specialist and i made that scillant ingot then sure lock it to my character so i can't sell or trade it. because i'm not a goldsmith specialist.

However if i use that to make a robe. then that robe should be tradable as that's where my specialist would be.

The specialist system should be scrapped entirely though. or implemented in a fashion like roth suggested earlier that allows ppl to only use one craft. but not punish those who use 8.

Also, due to the unpopularity of endgame crafting in general, certain markets will invariably be controlled by one or two players .

Personally the problem here is a lack of relevant gear to craft, patch 3.4 added the 250 crafted gear. the problem with it is that's it's ridiculously expensive for it's life time. at the minute star velvet robes of healing are 2 million gil on my servers market boards. most people won't even consider buying it. because chances are they'll replace it in 2-3 weeks. this is what destroys a big part of the crafted market. which in turn makes it look even less appealing to crafters which results in endgame craftings apparannt unpopularity.

[Shadygrove]

I'm a solid 3star crafter in 5 crafts.

I'm still sitting on the 3 blank ... whatever the things are you trade in for specalist stones.

My change? Scrap it.

[Driavna]

Crafting is victim of his Theme Park nature, it's not like SwG crafting where quaility of two items vary based on crafter skill/decisions and quaility of materials used, and a system that allow everyone to be everything. IMO at this point what they should do is make every profession fully independant outside final products, scrap specialization and allow players to setup their own workshops.

This workshop should act as a more fun way of specialization based on player decisions like:

- Hiring crafters to help you by taking orders.

- Furnishing the workshop.

So for example if I decided to fully commit my workshop to Culinarian I will gain certain bonus: massive culinarian crafting buff, more goods with less materials and having all my workes manufactoring components so I only have to use my time with final products. Something like this will put my in a position while a non specialized Culinarian can't compete with me dropping prices but also increasing potential buyers numbers so final income should be similar, while a regular culinarian still have acces to all recipes but probably It will be better for him to just buy my products too.

[Nicodemus_Mercy]

Ultimately I think it's fruitless to suggest things like "scrap specializations" or "overhaul the entire system". SE already made specializations so its highly unlikely for them to go away entirely or be changed dramatically. It's why my suggestions earlier in the thread were simple changes to skills provided by specialization. That's the most likely place SE will make changes if they change anything at all.